Respect to Sweden for ignoring U.S. chastisement for recognizing Palestine. h/t Tikun Olam
I do hope the global community will break the US hegemony of support for the apartheid state Israel. In the last year there have been a number of hopeful signs. But the new government of Sweden went further than a BDS statement, it has recognized the statehood of Palestine. Great courage to FM Margot Wallström. I hope this is a first step and signal Europe is returning to its senses, away from hate and discrimination while respecting International Law.
Sweden to recognize Palestine statehood, new prime minister says | LA Times |
Sweden will become the first major European nation to recognize Palestinian statehood, newly sworn-in Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced.
In unveiling his Cabinet appointments and governing priorities to Parliament, Lofven said recognizing the state of Palestine would bolster the objective of defining two separate but peacefully coexisting states and ending decades of hostility between Israelis and Palestinians.
“The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law,” Lofven said in his inaugural address. “A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful coexistence. Sweden will therefore recognize the state of Palestine.”
France24: New ‘feminist’ government with a Green tinge in Sweden
BDS movement and EU product labeling of Israëli goods from OPT
Read on below the fold …
South Africa ‘occupied territories’ label angers Israel | Global Post | Aug. 2012 |
Israel condemned a South African label requirement that demands all West Bank-made products have a tag stating that it is from “occupied Palestinian territory,” the New York Times reported.
In a statement Yigal Palmor, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson, said the label was “totally unacceptable.”
“What is totally unacceptable is the use of tools which, by essence, discriminate and single out, fostering a general boycott,” he said. “Such exclusion and discrimination bring to mind ideas of racist nature which the government of South Africa, more than any other, should have wholly rejected.”
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies called the label “divisive.” The group said in a statement that the label law was “motivated not by technical trade concerns but by political bias against the state of Israel.”
BDS movement and the various Israeli responses to it, the 5 stages of grief | Tikun Olam |
The fight against BDS will take many forms: the government will confront it both head-on and in surreptitious ways. But liberal Zionists and pro-Israel intellectuals and journalists will address BDS in more sophisticated ways. We can see examples of this just in recent days in the American media. As Mondoweiss reports, Hirsh Goodman, the Jerusalem Post’s former security reporter (and husband of NY Times Israel reporter, Isabel Kershner) has penned an attack on BDS in the Times (accompanied by an op-ed favorable to the movement by none other than its founder, Omar Barghouti). Jane Eisner in The Forward, makes another rather feeble attempt to discredit BDS. Max Fisher in the Washington Post too takes on the subject. And finally, Mira Sucharov attempted to poke holes in BDS in Haaretz.
Belgian government advises retailers to label settlement products | New EU regulation |
In addition to Europe’s statement on products from Occupied Territories of Palestine and Israel, I watched a first interview of the new NATO Secretary General from Norway, Jens Stoltenberg. A refresher from the aggressive statements and warmongering from his predecessor Rasmussen from Denmark.
Press Conference by incoming NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg | NATO HQ Brussels | plus video
This morning, I chaired a meeting of the North Atlantic Council for the first time. We reviewed the changed security landscape around us.
To the east, the ceasefire in Ukraine offers an opportunity. But Russia maintains its ability to destabilise Ukraine. And Russia remains in breach of international law.
To the south, instability is spreading in our neighbourhood. The international coalition including NATO Allies and regional partners is taking decisive actions against the terrorist group ISIL.
We support efforts to strengthen Iraq’s ability to defend itself. And our Patriot deployment contributes to the air defence of our Ally Turkey. These challenges make clear why we need NATO.
So as I take office, these are my three priorities. Keep NATO strong. Help keep our neighbourhood stable by working with partners. And keep the bond between Europe and North America rock solid.
NATO’s most important task is to protect and defend our nations against attack. Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty remains the cornerstone of our Alliance. We will uphold our commitment. And we will defend our Allies. So we need a strong NATO. Strong as a political Alliance. And strong as a military Alliance.
Taliban joins Daish caliphate of Islamic State (IS) | Dawn |
The Pakistan Taliban pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and ordered militants across the region to help the jihadi group in setting up a global Islamic caliphate, a report said.
In a message released by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), marking the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Adha, the group said that it backs the Islamic State goals fully and will provide the group with fighters and every possible support. It exhorted them to put the rivalries behind and maintain patience and stability as the group’s enemies join hands to defeat the Islamic State. The message also said that all the Muslims in the world have great expectations from the group, reported the Dawn.
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The Haqqani network, despite being based in Pakistan, is narrowly focused on its insurgency in Afghanistan and has not commented on IS-related developments. The TTP has been beset by bitter internal rivalries over the past year, with the influential Mehsud tribal faction of the group refusing to accept the authority of Mullah Fazlullah, who came to power in late 2013.IS, in an effort to extend its global reach, could exploit these rivalries to its advantage, wading into a region ripe with fierce anti-Western ideology and full of young unemployed men ready to take up guns and fight for Islam.
More about failed talks between the US and the Taliban later …
- ○ Taliban: The Kabul government is very weak now, like the Najibullah government after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989
